Skills credential may aid disabled students

New school-to-career path looked at by state, but some have doubts

Published 11:11 pm, Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. Jackson is intellectually disabled and recently graduated from high school. The state Education Department is looking to create a new pathway to high school graduation for severely learning disabled students. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec....

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. Jackson is intellectually disabled and recently graduated from high school. The state Education Department is looking to create a new pathway to high school graduation for severely learning disabled students. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec....

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. Jackson is intellectually disabled and recently graduated from high school. The state Education Department is looking to create a new pathway to high school graduation for severely learning disabled students. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec....

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. Jackson is intellectually disabled and recently graduated from high school. The state Education Department is looking to create a new pathway to high school graduation for severely learning disabled students. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec....

Michele Bulson and her son Jackson Aarons in Troy, NY Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. Jackson is intellectually disabled and recently graduated from high school. The state Education Department is looking to create a new pathway to high school graduation for severely learning disabled students. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

He washes dogs and helps out at the Bloomingrove animal hospital in East Greenbush. Aarons, 18, has an intellectual disability and hopes to live in his own apartment someday.

Aarons finished school with an Individualized Education Program diploma, which the state is phasing out in June. Now, the state Education Department is considering a new pathway to high school graduation for students with severe learning disabilities.

"School helped me get a job, it helped me get on task, stay focused," Aarons said. "Some people out there never got that chance."

The state Board of Regents is now considering a Career Skills Credential, which would recognize students with severe disabilities who have completed required coursework. It would not count like a Regents diploma, but would allow students who would not otherwise graduate to move into entry-level jobs by providing them with realistic academic achievement goals and career skills.

To earn the credential, students would have to demonstrate knowledge related to career development and show an ability to be successful in the workplace. Each student will be required to develop his or her own career plan.

"I hope it will better articulate a plan for the student to meet reasonable goals," said Kevin Smith, deputy commissioner for adult career and continuing education services.

But the Learning Disabilities Association has said plans to water down rigorous high school graduation requirements for disabled students are stigmatizing and segregating. Late last month, Director Stephen Boese submitted testimony to the state saying it should not rely solely on standardized tests, which are largely a measure of memorization skills, but on tests that reveal the mastery of a subject.

"Students with learning disabilities do not need a safety net," Boese said in his testimony. "The premise of a safety net is faulty, an antiquated, out-of-step, paternalistic approach that creates a second-class student with second-class outcomes."

There are about 400,000 New York students with learning disabilities and 20 percent of them have severe disabilities, according to the Education Department.

The Career Skills Credential will be offered as a standalone option or a supplement to a Regents diploma. It will not be considered a high school diploma.

However, students who earn the credential are still eligible for public education services until the school year in which they turn 21.

In that way, it will be similar to the IEP. Aarons' IEP diploma does not count as a valid high school completion at even the state's public higher education system. He wants to become a veterinarian assistant, but cannot take classes for credit at Hudson Valley Community College and can only earn a certificate unless he passes the GED.

A diploma that doesn't help children get to the next step of their education is worthless, said Michele Bulson, Jackson's mother. She said her son was able to find a work internship and create coursework that helped him largely through the services of the ARC of Rensselaer County, rather than the public school district.

She told the Board of Regents this week that it needs to create high school programs that allow students with severe learning disabilities to reach their potential. That includes teaching and testing those students at a level that challenges them to learn.

The Board of Regents will vote on the proposed changes to the high school graduation requirements at its March 2013 meeting.